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Hello,
okay let me state I am building this character to be very good at what he does and okay in combat. If not okay have something to do in combat at least.
I am trying to build a Animal tamer/trainer/breeder. Any book for pathfinder is likely okay for a source. please no 3 party stuff. Skills i will be working with
Handle Animal,Stealth,Survival,Ride, Knowledge (Nature), Perception,
Feats - Beast Hunter looks nice but...
Now The RP side of things I will being hunting, capturing/killing, Taming, breeding of animals, magical beast, and other exotic creatures. In this setting we are using The Ultimate Campaign rules. So i am hoping to open a stable, shop. maybe as the city grows a zoo.
20 point buy system.
Right now i have no idea what class i want, what combat skills/weapons. The problem I run into is i am not sure best way to take down bigger animals. I was thinking maybe be a wizard or bard, or maybe a trapper ranger. Regular combat will likely send in beast or do little to know damage maybe whip or net for control?
The easiest way to take down animals & magical beasts for your purpose would be with spells like charm animal or charm monster IMO. A psychic gets access to both of those. You'd probably want some charisma both for handle animal and for any opposed charisma checks required by the charm spells, so a charisma-based psychic discipline would be good; rapport is one that might be appropriate. Rebirth might fit as well if you were a magical beast or a mighty hunter in a previous life.
An elf with the spirit of the waters alternate racial trait would get proficiency in nets (among other things), which would help if you were a psychic and wanted to use those. Elves also get an Int bonus of course which also helps for a psychic. A half-elf could get both such benefits (via ancestral arms) and also pick up fey thoughts to make two of your desired skills into class skills. You'll want traits to make others into class skills too I expect.
I honestly think you have it backwards. While your character may indeed end up spending most of his time training animals, most of your time in game will be adventuring and combat. Making yourself useful in that situation should probably be your first, not your second priority.
Good news is that being an Animal tamer/trainer/breeder is just the handle animal skill as far as the game is concerned. Spending a point on it each level and having a decent CHR is really all you need to be successful at it.
Druid seems like a decent choice for this concept (Feyspeaker is CHR based druid, although I don't love the archetype.) A Nature themed Oracle or Sorcerer would also work out pretty well. Shaman could also work, although not CHR based. For any of these I would probably lean to a controller build, as that would mesh well with your concept.
Probably the very best fit for this concept is the Animal Speaker Bard. It isn't a bad archetype, and would maximize out your mundane ability to handle animals. It doesn't come with an Animal Companion, although unless I am missing something it would stack with Duetist which could give you a familiar. Alternately (or possibly as well) you can gain an animal companion via feats if you desire. You would have some choices with this character as far as combat role. Support is fairly obvious and easy with a bard, but they can be built to be ok controllers or strikers depending on feats. I'd probably go with a hybrid control/minor support (mostly just inspire courage) with summon natures ally being the focus.
Of course if you prefer a more martial view, hunters, rangers barbarians and slayers could all do this concept fairly well, with certain archetypes being better for some of them.
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The Cavalier archetype Hunt Master, gets whips and nets. It is in the animal companion book. I figured Magic or firearms made to do non-lethal damage was going to be the best way to capture creatures. Then use Handle animal to train tame it. IT is very Pokemon'ish but someone is training all the animals like hunting cats and war elephant, and the like. I am just trying to make a character who that is where he shines, don't want to be useless in combat but i am ok with not having any combat feats or bonus damage in general to better perfect I skill of Handle animal and Survival. I don't believe we can use the physic stuff but i will look into it. might be the way to go.
If you anticipate the game going to relatively high levels you might consider the Mammoth Rider PRC from The Adventurer's Guide. Getting a huge AC at potentially 7th level is pretty fun, and despite the name you get a fairly broad choice of animals who get a number of nice boosts. Not a class that synergizes well with spellcasting though.
A bard who didn't trade out the Versatile Performance ability via an archetype could select either Percussion (Handle Animal, Intimidate) or Wind (Diplomacy, Handle Animal). Add in a Skill Focus feat for the Performance, max Charisma, get a headband and Circlet of Persuasion...
You also get access to Charm Monster at level 7, the same level as a Wizard would.
Playing a Maagambyan Arcanist prc wizard atm with a similiar concept. Basically it plays similiar to a summoner; I'm a support caster and I ride around on the biggest critter I've tamed. Used a trait to get int to handle animal and am poaching some of the better animal support spells from druid. Also I get to craft all those nice random items that help out but are normally just to pricy to buy. If your roaming around a lot you can start teleporting back to your zoo once you get high enough level.
Also there's a nice guide to handle animal somewhere in the Zenith guide to guides